1 Peter 2:19 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Peter 2:19

Comments

These words have an inherent but powerful promise, as does the whole passage, taken to the end of the chapter. ‘For this is thankworthy’ – worthy of praise – ‘if a man for conscience toward God’ – out of a sense of duty to obey God that means – ‘endure grief, suffering wrongfully.’ The grief there is sorrow, literally. You endure some kind of conduct towards you makes you miserable and depresses you and brings you low. The word translated ‘endure’ means you bear up under it, you carry the weight of it. This is thankworthy before God, praiseworthy. God will have praise for you, and it will be expressed, the passage goes on to imply, in terms of blessing. The modern translations tend to use alternative words like ‘this is creditable’, or ‘commendable’. Thankworthy means exactly that, but the original uses the word ‘grace’ and what it means is this: if, even when you are wronged, you are subject to God’s institutions, whether it be the state, or your employer, you are doing something which attracts grace, something thankworthy, creditable, commendable, and God will bless you. The Lord delights to see his children doing what is right when the only incentive for doing so is their determination to obey him. In the situation under consideration their masters ill treat them and are unworthy of their service, and yet for the sake of their testimony and to ensure they bring no discredit on the gospel, believing servants continue to act towards such unworthy masters as if they were serving Christ himself. He sees them prove their love to him by obeying him in this matter even though they do so to their earthly loss. By faith they see another reward which has far greater value than any reward they would have from serving men. An unbelieving servant cannot do this, for he lacks the motivation to behave in such a gracious and commendable way.

Application

There is a promise here. You take difficult things and you absorb them without always flying to your own defence, insisting on your rights. There are times when you must, but if you do it as a matter of habit, you will receive no thanks from the Lord. ‘If a man for conscience toward God’, because he wants to obey God rather than stand on his dignity, and is conscious of God’s presence; ‘if he endure grief, suffering wrongfully,’ then he will be rewarded by God. Precisely how you will be rewarded, the passage does not tell you. It may be that your difficult situation will change, or you may have great blessing in another area of your life – in your family life, in your little ones coming to the Lord earlier than you ever expected, in instrumentality and witness, or in great blessing in the years ahead. God will bless you for your faithfulness, because for his sake you took it and you absorbed it, so that you could be a witness for him.

The pathway of obedience to God is not always straightforward, and does not always lead through calm waters. The Christian must not say when storms of trouble loom ahead, ‘This cannot be the way the Lord wishes me to go’, for we share many troubles with our fellow human beings which we must handle better than them, because we have spiritual resources in Christ, and in addition our discipleship may bring with it extra troubles which they do not know. We need to be so sure that the path we take is the right one that even though hardships come, we know we must continue. This assurance brings us great patience – we know that our trials are only for a time. Also we know the good that God works through them and this compensates us for all earthly loss. He brings good in the form of testimony to those who are perishing around us and he brings good in the form of the moulding of our character, working in us graces which will last for eternity. The ex-slave who has been brought to heaven will look back in wonder at the skill with which God taught him while he was on earth.

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1 Peter 2:19 Commentary and Bible Study